MEMORIES ^SERVICE 
b % IN FRANC E 

Gv7f MAR/ON GREGORY 




Class _J^i 

Book t Gj J A.. 
Copyright N? 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



MEMORIES OF 
SERVICE IN FRANCE 



BY 
MARION GREGORY 




NEW YORK 
DUFFIELD & COMPANY 

1918 






Copyright, 1918, by 
DUFFIELD & COMPANY 



NOV 29 1918 V ; -;' 



©CLA508313 



Dedicated to 

Lionel and Florence 

From 

Their Loving God-Mother 



July, 1918. 



FOREWORD 

On November 3, 1917, I sailed on the 
French steamer Espagne with Dr. Car- 
oline Finley, Director of the Woman's 
Oversea Hospitals. My connection 
with this organization was Paris Agent, 
which chiefly meant interpreting. This 
occupation brought me in contact with 
many interesting men connected with 
the French Government, who always 
showed our organization the greatest 
courtesy, interest and appreciation. 
That we had to wait some months be- 
fore our work was under way was the 
fault of the progress of the war, not 
from any lack of interest of the Gov- 
ernment. From the Ministry of War 



FOREWORD 

• 



down to the Mayor of the town where 
we finally were placed, everyone took 
a personal interest in our welfare and 
did their best to help our undertaking. 

In my spare moments I devoted 
much time to singing in the French 
hospitals, and for our own men through 
the Y. M. C. A. — and the last ten days 
of my stay I worked in their Canteen at 
Bordeaux. 

I make this introduction to tell my 
friends, at a glance, what I was doing in 
France, — and the following little mem- 
ories are merely personal experiences, 
which I hope may prove of some in- 
terest. 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE IN 
FRANCE 



CHAPTER I 

PARIS 

Arriving in Paris November, 1917, 
gave me a very different sensation than 
in the days before the war. The jour- 
ney up from Bordeaux had not been a 
preparation for what was to follow, for 
the landing there was simple enough 
except in the matter of cabs, and the 
journey up by train as quick and com- 
fortable as in happier days. But Paris 
made one feel the nearness of the enemy 
— women-porters pushing trucks full 
of luggage, women to carry the bags, 
with a few stray men to help with the 
heaviest tasks. The Bordeaux day- 
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MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

train arrives at 8.30 in the evening, and 
the lack of taxis and cabs is the first 
real discomfort which greets the trav- 
eler — the few in sight have generally 
been engaged in some mysterious man- 
ner. 

After a forty-five minute wait, two 
kindly Italian gentlemen, fellow pas- 
sengers on the ship, took compassion on 
me and asked me to share their omnibus 
as far as their hotel. I gladly accepted 
this, and at the rue Castiglione found 
a night-hawk who consented to take me 
home for three times the legal fare. Oh, 
the first sight of those darkened streets 
of Paris! — occasionally a gas lamp 
shaded from the top, casting a feeble 
reflection, directly underneath was the 
principal lighting, giving the feeling of 
Paris in the days of the Three Musket- 
eers. In November motors still had the 
4 



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lamps, and there was much more light 
generally than two months later when 
the air raids made Paris an inferno ; but 
it seemed blackness itself to one so re- 
cently from the over-lighted American 
cities. 

After the terrible raid of January 30, 
1918, the only lights allowed were those 
pale street-lamps and the blue lights at 
the subway entrances. Not a glimmer 
was permitted from the houses, and the 
dangers of getting about made going 
out at night too difficult a thing to un- 
dertake for pleasure. In the day-time, 
Paris, up to March, seemed very like 
the beautiful city we loved, people 
young and old going about their duties 
and pleasures much as usual. The thea- 
ters and movies did a paying business, 
for after two years of no amusements 
the people were hungry for diversion. 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

I was in much better luck than most 
American workers in Paris, as I had a 
charming home there with my aunt, 
Mrs. Pratt. She has lived there more 
than half her life and has a delightful 
circle of friends. I had known many 
of these people for years, as I had 
known France, — superficially — but I 
never realized how splendid they were 
nor how wonderful was France. This 
great country and her people have gone 
deep into my heart, for I honor them as 
well as love them. 

Getting about Paris at this time was 
quite a problem. The Metro and trams 
were so crowded, the taxis and the im- 
possible horse-cabs had developed such 
an independence that they would not 
take you unless the direction suited 
them, — the taxis had some reason for 
this owing to their small allowance of 
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gasoline. So I decided the best thing 
to do was to have a coupe by the month. 
In old days this was not an extrava- 
gance, but now it is. Our old man and 
returned war-horse proved a boon, and 
we were so thankful to have them, ram- 
shackle though they were. The old man 
was terrified of going out at night, as 
one of his colleagues had been killed by 
a motor-truck running into his coupe in 
the dark. As we were equally fright- 
ened, we only went out twice at night in 
five months. 

The traffic in Paris has always been 
a menace to the pedestrian, and now it 
is worse as so many inexperienced men 
are driving the taxis. I have been go- 
ing to Paris for twenty years and al- 
ways felt some day I would be run over, 
and on January 10, 1918, that long-ex- 
pected experience arrived. A taxi 
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MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

charged down upon me and I lay ap- 
parently dead at the foot of George 
Washington's statue in the Place 
d' Iena. I knew I wasn't dead as I felt 
the snow and slush seeping through all 
my winter clothing and thought I felt 
like a piece of blotting paper. I proved 
to be stunned, but most miraculously 
unhurt. Thick snow and winter cloth- 
ing had proved my salvation; so I put 
this down as another war-time experi- 
ence. 

The social side of life in Paris was 
very changed — no big dinners, no danc- 
ing, and no evening dress. At the opera 
there was a sign in the lobby about no 
evening dress permitted. All the here- 
tofore society people had some special 
personal interest in helping to alleviate 
war conditions. The only form of en- 
tertaining was an occasional luncheon or 
8 



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tea, and you were much more welcome 
as a guest if you brought your own 
sugar and bread, as these were under 
Government control and no influence 
could buy you more than your allot- 
ment. There were not many discom- 
forts, but whatever existed were ac- 
cepted without a murmur by all classes. 

One had to try to get used to seeing 
maimed men everywhere. At first it 
was heartrending for the newcomer, but 
it was beautiful to see the care and de- 
votion shown the returned mutiles by 
everyone. The theaters were filled with 
these patient sufferers. I have often 
seen rows of blind men — one time I can 
never forget — the well-acted play had 
for the hero a man blinded in the war. 
To watch the faces of the real blind men 
was a wonderful study. 

Saturday, March 23rd, was the only 
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MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

time I saw the great people of Paris 
falter — no panic — no excitement, but a 
cessation of the daily round of life. 
That was the first day of the big gun. 
It began at seven-thirty in the morning 
and went on all day at intervals of fif- 
teen minutes, no one knowing what it 
was. We all thought for hours it was 
the long-expected daylight raid, and for 
the first time I went to the cellar; but 
an hour under ground, with a candle the 
only light, was enough for me, and I 
went up again to the apartment, which 
was on the first floor and for that rea- 
son considered safe during raids. I 
even went out at noon, finding the 
streets deserted, and had to walk to my 
appointment. On my return a terrible 
explosion seemed to go off directly over 
my head, but there was nothing to be 
seen. I ran to shelter with a few others 
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in sight. The shops and public offices 
were all closed ; and the Metro stopped 
running that day; but the next day 
when they learned the unbelievable news 
that they were fired on from the very 
front, the great people of Paris settled 
down once more to the normal things of 
life, paying no heed to the constant fir- 
ing of "La Grosse Berthe" — she became 
a part of every-day life. 

The night raids were horrible. No 
words can convey the sickening sensa- 
tion of hearing the explosion of a bomb. 
The firing of the defense is nerve-rack- 
ing, but when the horrible bomb comes 
one's heart is cold at the thought of what 
it means. Before April 1st three raids 
were in our neighborhood, and the strain 
of living through them was very great. 
By that time Paris was protecting some 
of her beautiful buildings, but before 
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MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

the January raid no preparation of this 
kind had been made. 

When the March advance began, 
Paris quickly showed the effect of the 
departure of many thousands. People 
with old folk and children did well to go. 
Very unexpectedly, my own work called 
me away the 8th of April, and I was not 
sorry to get away from the strain of the 
cannon by day and the raids by night. 

Soon I found myself in the quiet, 
peaceful Midi, where only the cuckoo 
sang all day and the nightingale at 
night. 



12 



CHAPTER II 

THREE CHRISTMAS CONCERTS 

This memory is so precious to me that 
I fear I cannot adequately convey it to 
my readers. December 19th I was in- 
vited to give a Christmas program of 
songs at a hospital in Paris. This was 
a beautiful private house, which the 
family had given over to the care of the 
wounded. Mme. S. herself was the head 
nurse — a wonderful woman, who, from 
the beginning, had given her personal 
service and devotion to the soldiers of 
France. She had fifty beds on the en- 
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MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

trance-floor of the house ; two big salons, 
dining-room and large conservatory had 
become perfect hospital wards. Up- 
stairs were operating rooms, etc., the 
family living on the second floor. 

There are no trained nurses in 
France. The nuns are the nearest ap- 
proach to the trained women, so that 
most of the nursing there has been done 
by the ladies and by women of the peo- 
ple, who, through bitter experiences, 
have become excellent nurses. 

On arriving at the hospital at two 
o'clock, I found thirty-five of the fifty 
patients assembled in the conservatory 
ward. All wore their uniform overcoat 
and cap, as the cold was intense. Sev- 
eral guests had been invited, including a 
General and an Abbe, and many friends 
of the soldiers. It was a strange audi- 
ence. Nearly all those not in uniform 
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were in deep mourning, even my dear 
friend the accompanist and myself. All 
sat in their outdoor garments, and while 
singing I had to wear a fur coat and 
my frozen breath showed white. But 
there was nothing cold or freezing about 
that audience — their appreciation of my 
songs and their applause was so real 
and overwhelming it nearly unnerved 
me. I had to repeat many things, 
the greatest favorite being the ordinary 
recruiting song used by our soldiers, 
"Joan of Arc." They were so excited 
over the thought of Americans singing 
to their beloved Joan, I had to sing this 
eight times. Fortunately there were 
French words, but twice they asked for 
it in English. The final time they 
joined me in the catchy air. 

After it was all over, their eagerness 
to take my hand and have a special word 
15 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

was touching, and I had to go to the 
beds of those too ill to be present but 
who had heard the music. I remember 
one big black soldier from Martinique, 
who was dying of pneumonia. He 
asked to see the lady who sang, so I 
held his poor hot hand and talked for a 
few minutes. One man who showed 
great eagerness to address me burst out 
in English, "Oh, Miss, I'm so happy to 
see you. I live in New York, and am 
so homesick to return." He was very 
proud of being the only one present 
who could speak English, and my com- 
ing from New York was a great joy to 
him. I left amid blessings, and requests 
to return soon, which I am sorry to say 
I was not able to carry out. 

The next day, to my surprise, there 
was an article in a Paris paper about my 
singing, which was very gratifying and 
16 



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complimentary. It seemed one of the 
soldiers was a reporter for this paper, 
and in this way showed his personal ap- 
preciation. 

That night I left for Dinard in Brit- 
tany, where I went to visit Mr. and Mrs. 
Deming Jarves in their charming home 
Val Fleuri. I left Paris in a heavy 
snow-storm, sitting up all night in an 
ordinary first-class carriage. My com- 
panion was an interesting young woman 
returning from seeing a dying brother. 
She told me of another brother who had 
just received the Academy prize for the 
best book of the year ; she was so proud 
of her two soldiers, the youngest of 
whom she was to lose so soon. 

I found no snow at Dinard but it was 

bitterly cold, and the big open fires at 

Val Fleuri were a great comfort. This 

was my first visit to Brittany and my 

17 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

kind hosts made my stay a very happy 
and interesting one. 

Christmas Day brought the most 
wonderful experience of my service in 
France. In fact, the most beautiful of 
all my musical life. There were several 
hospitals at Dinard, but the largest was 
the old Hotel Royal where they had 350 
wounded men. Here, as usual, all the 
nursing was done by the ladies and the 
menial work by those strange little Ana- 
mites, who are like tiny Japs. Christ- 
mas Day the patients were to have a 
dinner and a tree, and they asked me to 
give them a concert before the dinner. 
The entrance hall was an enormous 
place. At one end was a raised plat- 
form by which we placed the piano — a 
good one this time, as we rented it for the 
occasion. I arrived early to see about 
the placing of this, and saw my audience 
18 



IN FRANCE 



assembling. Over thirty were brought 
down on stretchers; the first row of 
these were directly at my feet. Several 
of these men had not been out of bed 
before in from a year to twenty-one 
months, others sat in wheel-chairs or on 
sofas and chairs. The place was very 
full as many came from outside. My 
accompanist was a Belgian soldier who 
had been at the Conservatory at Liege ; 
he was a good musician and played well. 
For a moment I nearly lost courage 
facing this audience. The pathetic faces 
at my feet gazing at me, and the rows 
and rows of mutilated men, — the brav- 
est, most patient, saddest and most in- 
spiring audience before which I have 
ever appeared. It was with faltering 
tones I began that beautiful Noel of 
Adam ; but soon the response from those 
faces and the tumultuous applause after 
19 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

each verse gave me the needed courage, 
and I forgot all personal feeling in the 
glory of the music. Here again, as in 
Paris, the soldiers' song, "Joan of Arc," 
was repeated several times in French 
and English, and brought forth cheers 
for "Les Americains." I will never for- 
get the thrill of singing La Marseillaise 
that day, and the memory of those hun- 
dreds of voices when they joined me in 
the chorus. There were about thirty 
men who were unable to be brought 
down. These I went to see afterward, 
bringing each one some special presents. 
Can anyone wonder that this day will 
always mean a perfect memory to me? 
On the 27th, Mrs. Jarves took me in 
her motor about fifty miles away to 
Cambourg where I had been asked to 
repeat my Dinard program. We broke 
the law in going this distance by motor, 
20 



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but paying a fine made that all right 
when our mission was understood. The 
Chateau de Cambourg is one of the 
most interesting in France to-day — 
Chateaubriand lived there at one time, 
and the present owner is his great niece, 
the Countess de Durfort. This young 
woman, famous for her beauty, is one 
of the splendid workers in France. She 
and her husband have turned this coun- 
try home into a hospital for convales- 
cent soldiers, and give most of their time 
to the care of these men. She was par- 
ticularly interested in the care of the 
blind and had studied the Braille system 
herself, so she could teach it to the men. 
The Chateau is in a spacious estate — 
one part of it was built in the 11th Cen- 
tury, and the newest part in the 15th. 
About forty years ago it was put in 
good repair and is as comfortable as 
21 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

such an ancient building can be made to 
live in. The rooms are large and im- 
pressive, but in spite of the thickness of 
the walls it is very cold. 

On this occasion a lady from the vil- 
lage played for me, and, as usual, I 
ended with La Marseillaise. After 
that the Count de Durfort came to me 
and said the soldiers hoped I would 
sing the "Star Spangled Banner." 
Very stupidly I did not have it with me, 
so I had to sing it without music, and I 
laughingly remarked, "I fear I do not 
know the words of my own national 
hymn as well as I know yours," and a 
little soldier in the front rose and said, 
"Fear nothing, Mademoiselle, I know 
the words and will help you." He had 
lived in Montreal for a while as a teacher 
in a school, but all things American ap- 
pealed to him, and he had learned these 
22 



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words which seemed so difficult for me 
to remember, although I have sung my 
national air countless times, and love it, 
too. 

I will always look back on my eight 
days in Brittany during war-time with 
greatest pleasure. I left with regret, 
but my real duties called me back at the 
New Year. 



23 



CHAPTER III 

TEN MILES BEHIND THE FRONT 

When we left New York, we ex- 
pected to accomplish our advance work 
for the unit very quickly ; but three days 
after sailing we heard the entire French 
Cabinet had been changed. This meant 
a long wait for us, until the new officials 
could attend to placing us. 

Our work was intended for the care 
of women and children in the devastated 
area. Our personnel was entirely of 
women, we were supported by women, 
the money coming through the Suffrage 
party. As we were under the French 
Government, we could not belong to 
24 



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our own Red Cross, but this wonderful 
organization has aided us in many ways, 
giving us the money for the equipment 
of our first hospital. 

The first suggestion for our work was 
about ten miles back of the front as it 
was in January. In theory this was 
ideal, for this situation would have made 
ambulance service to three departments 
a possibility; we could have served the 
Aisne, Oise and Somme. 

On January 4th, at seven in the morn- 
ing, Dr. Finley and I started for the 
Gare du Nord, where we were met by 
Major Rist of the Tardieu Commission. 
The great, gloomy, dark station was 
filled with ghostly figures, all soldiers 
going directly back to the lines — one 
felt in a dream seeing this through a 
cold mist, for it was still dark when we 
reached the station. We had to have 
25 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

special war-zone passes, with our photo- 
graphs and all the reasons of our going 
so near the front. We kept these red 
books in our hands most of the time. 
As Dr. Finley and I were not then in 
uniform, we were all the more ques- 
tioned; later, when the unit arrived, we 
all wore uniforms, and they seemed as 
much a pass as our red books. 

There was much snow everywhere, 
beautiful, fresh, crisp snow, and the air 
was very cold but still — a glorious win- 
ter day with a bright sun. All our fel- 
low passengers were officers and sol- 
diers. At Compiegne, Dr. Finley and 
I had to get out and go to the station to 
have our papers stamped, as this was the 
entrance to the war zone. 

Very soon we saw our first wrecked 
villages, broken bridges, old trenches 
and barbed-wire entanglements. I 
26 



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could only feel as if I were at the cin- 
ema; I could not feel I was looking at 
the real thing, but when I realized this 
I felt my indignation getting almost be- 
yond control. Those pitiful homes — 
most of them poor ones — sometimes 
half a house left, with the family mak- 
ing the best of things ; but in most cases 
utter ruin. The ruthlessness of it 
struck me as no reading or hearsay had 
ever done; seeing and living through it 
is the only way to realize the horror of 
this terrible war. 

On arriving at Noyon, we were met 
by the Sous Prefet of Ham, a gentle- 
man well fitted for his difficult task, full 
of enthusiasm and very thorough in his 
work. To our surprise we found a good 
hotel, only open a few days. A man and 
his wife who ran a small hotel in Paris 
had taken this old building, one wing 
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MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

of which was the house where Calvin 
was born.* They put it in good order 
with new furniture, etc., and provided 
an excellent cuisine. They felt it would 
be a good investment, as Noyon was 
then headquarters for the French army 
— poor souls, I often wonder where they 
are now, and if the gentle little hunch- 
back maid who waited on me was able 
to escape when Noyon fell for the sec- 
ond time into enemy hands. After 
lunch we went in Mons. Dupin's motor 
about seven miles to the little town of 
Guiscard. The road looked so different 
from any in France, at first I could not 
see why, then I knew it was because 
there was not a single tree on either side 
all the way to Guiscard. This was the 
famous road when the Germans in re- 
treat cut all the great trees and laid 



* Completely destroyed in August retreat. 
28 



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them across the road to prevent the 
French from following them quickly. 

Guiscard looked so peaceful in the 
winter sunshine. This little place at 
that time was practically untouched, 
while Chauny, nearby, was near com- 
plete ruin. The houses were generally 
only one or two stories — we went di- 
rectly to the Commandant's headquar- 
ters, which was one of these little one- 
story plaster houses. There we met 
Commandant M., a fine old soldier, over 
sixty years of age, more than six feet in 
height and as straight and strong as a 
man of forty. His was a delightful per- 
sonality. He was very proud of his 
English — in fact, we found him reading 
the "Merchant of Venice" — and soon 
concluded most of his English was 
Shakesperean. 

We walked about the town, always in 
29 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

sound of the cannon at the front, and 
found the three houses selected for us. 
They were the best in the village, — 
country villas in their lovely gardens — 
the three properties adjoining. They 
were still in use as hospitals for the 
French army, but we were told that the 
French were leaving this immediate 
neighborhood and they would soon be 
empty. The reason for this was that 
the British were coming to replace them. 
This, of course, made a new complica- 
tion, for we would have to get their con- 
sent as well — we met the English Colo- 
nel, who was most cordial, but his was 
not the final word. When we returned 
to headquarters we had an interesting 
peep into history, as a French General 
had arrived from the front. He was so 
startled on seeing two ladies in this 
place, it was quite an amusing incident. 
30 



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Next day we stopped at Compiegne, 
where I saw my old friend Zella de Mil- 
hau, who was doing splendid work there 
with her ambulance. 

Then came a long wait in Paris. Our 
papers of permission came from the 
highest French authority, but the Eng- 
lish General refused permission, as he 
would not allow women so near the 
lines. Our disappointment was great, 
but we soon learned to bless him for his 
wisdom, for Guiscard was one of the 
first places to fall in the March advance. 



31 



CHAPTER IV 

women's oversea hospital no. 1 

Late in February the first unit 
sailed. They heard only the day before 
of our losing Guiscard, but as the diffi- 
culty of getting twenty-four women off 
to France is great, they did not post- 
pone the sailing. Dr. Finley and I went 
to Bordeaux to meet them and were 
greatly aided in our arrangements by 
the kindly officials of the Y. M. C. A. 
We were proud of the appearance of 
our women — the doctors in their well- 
fitting uniforms, and the nurses, aids, 
chauffeurs, etc., in their distinctive 
dress. The party received hearty cheers 



IN FRANCE 



when riding through Bordeaux to the 
station. 

Our second assignment was Vic-sur- 
Aisne, very near Soissons. There was 
a slight delay, owing to the owner of the 
houses holding back the papers, but they 
were in our hands the very morning of 
the big drive — fortunately we had not 
signed, for this section soon became the 
center of fighting. 

It was then the Service de Sante 
asked for part of the unit to aid at a 
French military hospital, so Dr. Finley 
decided to split the unit, taking one-half 
with her to the military work; the rest 
were left to carry out the original plan 
of care for women and children, and 
were placed under the direction of my 
sister, Dr. Alice Gregory. 

When the French Government, 
through Commandant Welter of the 
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MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

Cabinet of the Ministry of War, asked 
us to go to the Department of Landes 
to establish a hospital for refugees, we 
had no idea of the neighboorhood to 
which we had been assigned ; but we soon 
grew to love this quaint part of France, 
so little known to the traveler, and to 
have a very real affection for the people 
of this large Department. 

Our journey down was made at a dif- 
ficult moment, when the Port of Bor- 
deaux was closed on account of the 
movement of troops. At that time the 
American army was arriving in vast 
numbers, so no ordinary traveling was 
permitted over the Orleans railway. 
All that section of the country was tem- 
porarily declared in the army zone, so 
that special passes were required which, 
in ordinary cases, took at least two 
weeks; but as we Were under the Gov- 
34 



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ernment ours were procured in twenty- 
four hours. The ordinary traveler at 
that time was permitted no luggage be- 
yond what he could carry, and even with 
all our official papers and letters we had 
difficulty and nearly lost our train 
through waiting permission from the 
Chef de Gare to take our luggage. 
Traveling in France is wonderfully lit- 
tle affected outside the actual fighting 
districts, and we made the long journey 
of fourteen hours to Mont de Marsan as 
comfortably as could have been done at 
any time. 

This quaint town is the capital of Les 
Landes. The Prefet of the district re- 
sides there in more or less shabby pomp ; 
the house given to this official is a fine 
old building, back of which is a really 
beautiful public park. The residence 
is connected with the offices of State, 
35 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

and it is surprising to find what a lot 
of business there is to be done in this 
corner of France. It is the great wood 
district — miles and miles of pine forests 
represent the riches of this department, 
and factories for preparing the wood, 
and for turpentine, are all over the sur- 
rounding country. This is one of the 
special departments to which the refu- 
gees are being sent, because of these 
conditions. All the factories are mak- 
ing pieces for the portable houses in 
which the Government is housing these 
unhappy people, for now they are try- 
ing to keep families together as much as 
possible and provide them with tem- 
porary homes. Mont de Marsan is very 
Spanish in character; it is near enough 
the border to take on the color, and even 
part of the language, of the neighbor- 
ing country. The Spanish roof is much 
36 



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in evidence on the houses, and the lace 
mantilla is quite often seen on the 
women. We had no idea what a curi- 
osity we were going to be, but soon 
learned we were the first American 
women ever seen there and our uni- 
forms proved of tremendous interest. 

The Landes officials decided that the 
best place for our work would be La- 
bouheyre, a small town of 1,600 inhabi- 
tants on the line from Bordeaux to 
Biarritz. On our arrival there we were 
met by a large number of people, in- 
cluding M. Bacon, the mayor. No 
words can adequately tell of the kind- 
ness and courtesy of this French 
gentleman ; he thought of everything for 
our comfort, and helped us in many 
ways. In the first place, as there is only 
a tiny inn at Labouheyre, he found us 
billets in the town, taking five of us to 
37 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

live in his own house. The unit all met 
at the inn for dinner and supper. Four 
were living with an interesting woman, 
a financier in her own way ; she was the 
grain merchant of the place, a rich 
widow, and as there was no bank in the 
town, she kept an enormous amount of 
money in the house — but no one would 
dream of robbing her. Five others of 
the unit had rooms at the inn, so we 
were more or less comfortably fixed for 
the six weeks before our buildings were 
ready. These houses were the Govern- 
ment shacks altered to suit our require- 
ments. The question of labor for 
putting them up was solved by the as- 
signment of thirty German prisoners. 
These sturdy, well-fed Teutons had 
been prisoners from the first of the war, 
and their appearance spoke louder than 
words of the splendid care the French 



IN FRANCE 



had given them. The men behaved well 
and made the situation easy for us by 
ignoring our presence; they looked 
through us as we looked through them. 
We conversed with only one, who was 
brought by the guard to be cured of a 
sore throat. 

The mayor gave us part of his prop- 
erty for our buildings, for our living 
quarters the part which had been his 
pheasant-run. This is a well-shaded 
place, which is necessary in summer as 
the Midi sun is a scorching one. The 
hospital buildings are near by on a little 
higher ground. Our rooms are most 
comfortable, giving the effect of camp- 
ing out in the Adirondacks; our dwell- 
ing houses have three rooms, each with 
a large French window and its own 
front door, two people in each room. 
The beds are of the American army 
39 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

type, with good springs and mattresses, 
the furniture simple but adequate, and 
the muslin and chintz curtains give a 
homelike air. The dining-room is quite 
large, taking two-thirds of a building, 
the kitchen taking the other third. Our 
woman carpenter did splendid work in 
making the dining-room table, side- 
board, benches and cupboards. We 
were justly proud of her work, which 
was a sensation to the French people, 
who would steal in and stand in groups 
to see a woman saw wood. The recrea- 
tion room and store room form part 
of this group of buildings. The offices, 
dispensary, operating room, sterilizing 
room and wards form the main hospital 
group; the operating room painted 
white inside, with its skylight window, 
is a triumph. Our eleven buildings 
made a good showing for six weeks' 
40 



IN FRANCE 



work. But even before things were in 
working order, we heard that the Gov- 
ernment wished us to enlarge our work, 
to double the number of buildings, and 
this is now under way, for we not only 
have refugees to care for but have be- 
come a departmental hospital with a 
large area to cover. 

Our real work began long before the 
buildings were ready; fortunately we 
had our two ambulances, for we had 
calls from miles around. The Army 
Doctor, who had charge of five towns in 
the neighborhood, left soon after our 
arrival, as the people did not like him 
and preferred coming to us. He was 
not interested in his work and was glad 
to hand it over, so it was a good thing 
for everyone. Our doctors made de- 
voted admirers of our patients; they 
quickly earned the gratitude and affec- 
41 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

tion of these dear people of Les Landes, 
and when the day came for the dedica- 
tion ceremony, the people entered into it 
with all their hearts. 

It was a beautiful day after much 
rain. The priest came early, be- 
fore the Government officials, and 
blessed the beds, as Church and State do 
not meet upon the same ground in 
France; after he had gone the Prefet, 
with several dignitaries from Mont de 
Marsan, and a neighboring Mayor ar- 
rived. Our own Mayor was away, but 
sent a representative. The speeches 
were all excellent, the most applauded 
being that of Dr. Gregory, who made 
her maiden speech, and in a foreign 
tongue. She touched the hearts of all 
present with her simple, well-chosen 
words. The Prefet made a very fine 
speech, and the surprise of the day came 
42 



IN FRANCE 



when one hundred and fifty school chil- 
dren sang our difficult national anthem 
in English and in French. It was a 
touching tribute from these simple peo- 
ple. The American Army Band which 
was sent to assist us, played as only an 
army band can, and the Prefet raised 
a beautiful French flag while the "Mar- 
seillaise" was played, and Dr. Gregory 
raised the American flag while the band 
played the "Star Spangled Banner." 
Several hundred people took part in 
these ceremonies, and we were able to 
give them delicious refreshments made 
in our own kitchen. It was a day ever 
to be remembered in our quiet little 
town. 

Within a few days the wards were 
nearly full, and we now have five dis- 
pensaries in neighboring towns. Dr. 
Gregory, who made this undertaking 
43 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

the success it is, has handed over the 
splendid work to her successor, Dr. 
Formad, for now her own country and 
her own army have asked for her serv- 
ices, and she has gone to the front.* In 
the meantime, the hospital will go on 
under the excellent direction of Dr. 
Formad, and will continue to help the 
suffering women and children of France 
and bring pride and joy to the women at 
home who are making this great work 
possible through their generous dona- 
tions to the Woman's Suffrage Party. 



* Dr. Gregory is at the front, but still in the service 
of France— under the Service de Sante— caring for 
the Poilus. 

44 



CHAPTER V 



REFUGEES 



The tremendous influx of refugees 
into Paris from their devastated homes 
was appalling during the first weeks 
of the March advance. The situation 
was wonderfully managed by the Gov- 
ernment, with the aid of the American 
Red Cross and kindred societies. On 
our journey to the Midi we passed hun- 
dreds in the trains, — they never knew 
where they were going, but their ac- 
ceptance of the situation and uncom- 
plaining faith that their Government 
would care for them was very wonder- 
ful. One girl we spoke to had been 
45 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

fifteen days on the journey. There 
were many children in this group; for- 
tunately some of our women had a lot 
of chocolate which we passed over to the 
children in the train on the next track. 
One family told me they had had just 
ten minutes to escape. This meant no 
time to dress and all their clothes had 
been provided by other refugees along 
the road — they saw their home in flames 
as they walked away. But it was the 
very old who filled the heart with most 
pity, they looked so like frightened, hurt 
children with their poor little bundles, 
generally containing some useless ar- 
ticle — in fact one old woman had care- 
fully wrapped up the works of her 
clock. The only comfort was that the 
families had been kept together, and the 
plan of the Government was to billet 
46 



IN FRANCE 



them until the shacks could be ready. 

In Labouheyre there was a very large 
village green. This was laid out in 
streets of these houses and in the center 
a common kitchen. When I left this 
was not yet in working order, but well 
on the way, and I heard in June that 
the first refugees had arrived. 

The plan was to have the strong ones 
work in the various factories about the 
town; there were several families al- 
ready installed there for a year or more 
who had worked this way. One enter- 
prising woman followed her soldier hus- 
band who had been sent there for work. 
They lived in a shed, the wife had a 
vegetable stall protected from the sun 
by a piece of cloth on two poles, and her 
wares were displayed on boards ; she had 
good things and made enough to live 
on. Her baby, Clarette, aged three, 
47 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 



was a special sweetheart of mine, and 
never let me pass without bringing me 
some nuts or a fig in her grimy hand — 
I much preferred the nuts under the cir- 
cumstances. 

Another family whose father, also a 
returned soldier who had been sent to 
the wood factory, were very interesting 
to me. They were from the north, the 
Ardennes, and were not welcome in this 
community as they were strolling gyp- 
sies. Before the war they had lived in 
wagons and traveled about with a mov- 
ing-picture show. The children — seven 
living out of thirteen — had all been born 
in these wagons, and living in their 
shack of a house in one spot was very 
trying to them. The oldest, Palmyre, 
was a bold, handsome girl of nineteen 
— she was desperately unhappy in her 
longing for the road. Her work used 
48 



IN FRANCE 



to be singing during the cimera per- 
formance, as did her thirteen-year-old 
sister Rosetta. She dogged my foot- 
steps with questions of America and 
how to get there. She had written to 
a cinema company in Chicago, sending 
her picture, and they replied they would 
use her for acting. I did my best to 
dissuade her. To my surprise I found 
she had a really lovely voice. A poor 
Belgian used to travel about with them 
playing the piano, and he had taught 
her — poor child, her future seems a dark 
one, but the adoration of the whole fam- 
ily for her is extraordinary. They go 
without that she may have, and their 
three-room, unpainted shack, bore the 
name Villa Palmyre. 

On account of my knowledge of 
French, I was thrown in contact with 
our first cases — later the others became 
49 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

more used to things and did not need 
me so much, but I enjoyed coming into 
such close personal touch with these peo- 
ple. The whole family and all the 
neighbors of my first special patient 
looked upon me as something from 
Heaven ; to my own surprise and happi- 
ness I found them believing with ut- 
most faith every word I said, and in a 
few minutes I had stopped the wild sobs 
and fears of fifteen people who were 
gathered at her bedside, at once. For- 
tunately for me, as well as for this 
poor soul, all my predictions came true. 
I was sorry to leave this part of the 
work, but I found that the climate of 
the Midi did not agree with me so I 
could not remain. 



50 



CHAPTER VI 



ARMY NEIGHBORS 



Within a radius of from fifteen to 
fifty miles we had for neighbors sev- 
eral camps of American soldiers, all en- 
gineers doing important work. Labou- 
heyre was quite a railway center for 
them, so we were in touch with these 
men. In fact, we soon found our army 
took a very real interest in our work, 
from the General in command at Tours, 
the General at Bordeaux, to the Majors 
and Captains in our neighborhood. 

An order was given to supply us with 
gasoline, which was a tremendous boon, 
for that is an impossible commodity in 
51 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

France, and we had frequent gifts of 
white bread and were always invited to 
any special celebration or entertain- 
ment. We were able on several occa- 
sions to be of assistance in return — in 
the matter of a dentist, for instance, 
when the army man had been called to 
the front and left hundreds of aching 
teeth, our young woman gladly went to 
a camp twenty miles away and worked 
hard three days a week before our hos- 
pital was ready. One day our ambu- 
lance came along ten minutes after a 
bad accident — we found a smashed au- 
tomobile, an injured chauffeur, and two 
fortunately unhurt Majors. We took 
them to their camp about fifty miles 
away from the scene of their accident, 
and this incident strengthened our 
growing popularity. As we had offered 
our services to our own army, through 
52 



IN FRANCE 



our Government, and had been refused 
owing to our being women, such experi- 
ences were very gratifying. 

One night we had a delightful expe- 
rience. It was before we were in- 
stalled, so we were all able to accept the 
invitation of the Major at P. We went 
over in one of our big White ambu- 
lances and dined with the officers. 
About twenty-five sat down to a de- 
licious meal ; then we went to the village 
green to hear Elsie Janis give her inimi- 
table entertainment. The boys had 
built a high platform at one end of the 
green and put a tent on it — this proved 
a splendid place, in spite of Miss Janis' 
fears — at that time she had not sung or 
spoken in the open air, but I am sure she 
has many times since as this was such a 
huge success. Men came from nearby 
camps, so in all there were over twelve 
53 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

hundred, and it was a delightful expe- 
rience to watch these faces and hear 
their roars of laughter, and the jolly 
singing, for Elsie had us all singing 
with her before it was over. 

Five hundred men came on flat cars 
run on a narrow-guage road. They sat 
back to back, and as they started off in 
the sunset looked like a huge centipede 
in the distance. The performance was 
at seven, as Miss Janis had to give an- 
other performance that same evening at 
a Canadian camp. She was delighted 
to see the members of the unit as she had 
crossed over with them, and this gave 
her the inspiration to do an imitation 
of herself giving her entertainment on 
a lurching ship, which was most amus- 
ing. 

Owing to the great difficulty of trans- 
portation, we were delayed in getting 
54 



IN FRANCE 



our furniture down from Bordeaux; so 
our army came to our rescue and sent 
down two huge motor-trucks with the 
things. These trucks then proceeded 
to a neighboring camp to take back 
men, etc., so we did not interfere with 
the rules of the army. The Perfet was 
most grateful for this assistance from 
the Americans. By the time we were 
ready for the hospital ward furniture, 
he was able to make special arrange- 
ments with the railroad, so we did not 
have to bother our good army friends 
again. 

One day after I had left, a great Gen- 
eral from Tours took us in on his tour 
of inspection of camps, and honored the 
unit by taking lunch with them. So you 
can understand between the loving grat- 
itude of the French and the interest of 
their own people, this little band of 
55 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

women working in this far-away spot is 
not lonely, for they are surrounded by 
the truest of friends. 



56 



CHAPTER VII 

SINGING FOR THE Y. M. C. A. 

Before leaving New York, I received 
a letter from one of the principal of- 
ficials of the Y. M. C. A., asking me if 
I would have free time to sing for the 
American soldiers. I replied I would 
be very glad to do so whenever possible. 
I am very proud that I had even an un- 
official connection with this great organ- 
ization. Their work for our men is 
magnificent — no one can speak too 
highly in praise of what they are doing. 

At first I sang at their smokers, but 

found this too much for my throat, so 

I asked them to keep me on their list for 

Sunday singing. These services were 

57 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

always filled to the capacity of the room 
— the boys listening reverently to the 
prayers and address, and joining with 
all their hearts in the hymns. I loved 
leading the great chorus of their voices, 
and I always sang two solos. Very 
often they forgot the bare barrack- 
room was meant to be a church and 
would give me deafening applause. 

The first Sunday I went about three- 
quarters of an hour by train from Paris, 
traveling with the clergyman, — a man 
well fitted for this work, who had left 
his church in Connecticut to do his bit — 
and my accompanist, who was a well- 
known organist at home. We were met 
by an officer and a representative of the 
Y. M. C. A., and taken in a huge 
French cammion, or motor-truck, five 
miles to the fort. How I ever got in or 
out of this "limousine," as they called it, 
58 



IN FRANCE 



I will never know, — there were no steps 
and it was very high from the ground. 
The men shinnied up — goodness knows 
what I did! 

There were 700 soldiers stationed at 
this old French fort, the first I had ever 
seen. The vaulted room in which the 
service was held was a wonderful place 
for singing, and our opening hymn, 
"Onward Christian Soldiers," was so 
gloriously sung by those boys I can 
never forget the thrill of it. The room 
was not large enough for all to be pres- 
ent, but it was full. Afterward I had 
lunch with fourteen officers; these men 
were all of the Regular Army, and it 
was most interesting to hear how they 
had brought their men the great dis- 
tance from California. 

Every Sunday I had an interesting 
experience, and was sorry to give up 
59 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

this work. I sang the night before I 
left for the Midi at a special Easter 
service in Paris at the beautiful branch 
of the Y. M. C. A., 31 Avenue Mon- 
taigne. The rooms were rilled; many 
of the men expected to leave in a few 
days for the front. 

When I found I would have ten un- 
expected days in Bordeaux waiting for 
my steamer, I offered my services for 
canteen work there with the Y. M. C. 
A. They have a splendid big building, 
which was once famous as a gambling 
place. The rooms are large and spa- 
cious, and there is a fine balcony like 
a big terrace running along one side 
of the building. The ground floor was 
used for the restaurant, which was most 
efficiently run by two young women 
well known in New York society — they 
are very young but splendid managers 



IN FRANCE 



and faithful to their difficult task. The 
result is — delicious meals for the sol- 
diers, sailors, Red Cross workers, or 
anyone in uniform. And it was not un- 
usual to see a General enjoying a good 
American meal, with butter and white 
bread and all the sugar desired — lux- 
uries not to be found in any French res- 
taurant. The price for these meals was 
moderate indeed for the good menu of- 
fered. 

The entresol was devoted to reading 
and writing rooms, and the first floor to 
to the entertainment rooms and canteen, 
where they could get ice cream and cold 
drinks. Hundreds of men came daily 
to this place, and in the very hot days 
in May it was hard to keep enough ice 
cream ready for the demand. The bal- 
cony was on this floor, and with tables 
and chairs under the awnings was a de- 
61 



MEMORIES OF SERVICE 

lightful place for the men to spend the 
afternoon. 

We were only supposed to serve one 
ice cream or sundae to each man, but the 
plea to "please give me another for my 
brother" (meaning himself) was hard to 
resist, and he generally got his second 
plate. A small price was charged for 
all refreshments. 

For the first time I came into per- 
sonal touch with the boys — before I only 
sang to them, but had no opportunity to 
talk with them. I found them a splen- 
did lot on the whole, and had great 
pleasure knowing them. In several 
cases I wrote to their mothers on my 
return, for I could say just how they 
looked, and even where they were, and 
the answers of these mothers showed me 
in every case why the sons themselves 
were so fine. 

62 



IN FRANCE 



I made some very good friends dur- 
ing my ten days in Bordeaux, and be- 
tween their kindness and the enjoyment 
of my work I had a very happy time. 

These seven months spent in war-time 
France will stand out in my life as a 
wonderful memory, and what little per- 
sonal service I was able to render this 
glorious country through her own peo- 
ple was repaid me a hundred times, and 
I am full of gratitude to France for the 
lessons she has taught me. 



63 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




